Arches National Park, Utah.
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October 12, 2015

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Arches National Park, Utah: We wish to thank Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia for some of the information on this page. We share information with Wikipedia. Arches National Park is a US National Park in eastern Utah. The park is located on the Colorado River 4 miles (6 km) north of Moab, Utah. It is known for containing over 2,000 natural sandstone arches, including the world-famous Delicate Arch, in addition to a variety of unique geological resources and formations. The park is 76,679 acres (119.811 sq mi; 31,031 ha; 310.31 km2) in area. Its highest elevation is 5,653 feet (1,723 m) at Elephant Butte, and its lowest elevation is 4,085 feet (1,245 m) at the visitor center. Forty-three arches are known to have collapsed since 1977. The park receives 10 inches (250 mm) of rain a year on average. Administered by the US National Park Service, the area was originally named a National Monument on April 12, 1929. It was redesignated as a National Park on November 12, 1971. How did such a beautiful geographic area occur? Since I used to teach geology, I will try to explain. Arches National Park lies atop an underground evaporite layer or salt bed, which is the main cause of the formation of the arches, spires, balanced rocks, sandstone fins, and eroded monoliths in the area. This salt bed is thousands of feet thick in places, and was deposited in the Paradox Basin of the Colorado Plateau some 300 million years ago when a sea flowed into the region and eventually evaporated. Over millions of years, the salt bed was covered with debris eroded from the Uncompahgre Uplift to the northeast. During the Early Jurassic Time Period (about 210 Ma) desert conditions prevailed in the region and the vast Navajo Sandstone was deposited. Then an additional sequence of stream laid and windblown sediments, called the Entrada Sandstone (about 140 Ma), was deposited on top of the Navajo Sandstone. Over 5,000 feet (1500 m) of the younger sediments that were deposited and have been for the most part been eroded away. Remnants of the cover exist in the area including exposures of the Cretaceous Mancos Shale. The arches of the area are developed mostly within the Entrada formation. The heavy weight of this cover caused the salt bed below it, to liquefy and to thrust up layers of rock into salt domes. The evaporites of the area formed more unusual salt anticlines or linear regions of uplift. Faulting occurred, and whole sections of rock subsided into the areas between the domes. In some places, they turned almost on edge. The result of one such 2,500 foot (760 m) displacement, called the Moab Fault, can be seen from the visitor center. Then as this subsurface movement of salt shaped the landscape, erosion removed the younger rock layers from the surface. Except for isolated remnants, the major formations visible in the park today are the salmon-colored Entrada Sandstone, in which most of the arches form, and the buff-colored Navajo Sandstone. These are visible in layer cake fashion throughout most of the park. Over time, water seeped into the surface cracks, joints, and folds of these layers. Ice formed in the fissures, expanding and putting pressure on surrounding rock, breaking off bits and pieces. Winds later cleaned out the loose particles. A series of free-standing fins remained. Wind and water attacked these fins until, in some, the cementing material gave way and chunks of rock tumbled out. Many damaged fins collapsed. Others, with the right degree of hardness and balance, survived despite their mising sections. These became the famous arches. Evidence shows that humans have occupied the region since the last ice age 10,000 years ago. The Fremont People and Ancient Pueblo People lived in the area up until about 700 years ago. There is an abundance of animal wildlife in Arches. The list includes: spadefoot toad, antelope squirrel, scrub jay, peregrine falcon, many kinds of sparrows, red fox, desert bighorn sheep, kangaroo rat, mule deer, mountain lion, midget faded rattlesnake, yucca moth, many types of cyanobacteria, Western rattlesnake, and the Western collared lizard. Plants also dominate the landscape in the park. The list of plants includes: prickly pear cactus, Indian ricegrass, bunch grasses, cheatgrass, lichen, moss, liverworts, Utah juniper, Mormon tea, blackbrush, cliffrose, four-winged saltbrush, pinyon pine, stemless woollybase, evening primrose, sand verbena, yucca, and sacred datura. Among the notable features of the park are: Balanced Rock � a large balancing rock, the size of three school buses. Courthouse Towers � a collection of tall stone columns. Dark Angel � a free-standing 150-foot-tall (46 m) sandstone pillar at the end of the Devil's Garden Trail. Delicate Arch � a lone-standing arch which has become a symbol of Utah and the most recognized arch in the park. Devil's Garden, or The Klondike Bluffs � with many arches and columns scattered along a ridge. Double Arch � two arches that share a common end. Fiery Furnace � an area of maze-like narrow passages and tall rock columns (see biblical reference Fiery Furnace). Landscape Arch � a very thin and long arch with a span of 290 feet (88 m) (This is the longest arch in the park). Petrified Dunes � petrified remnants of sand dunes blown from the ancient lakes that covered the area. Wall Arch � located along the popular Devil's Garden Trail; collapsed sometime on August 4/5, 2008.